Reported for Statewide by Brad Penner.

Farm Hotline, this is Michelle.
When Michelle Soll started answering the Farm Hotline five years ago, she got about five first time calls a week.
Now we receive five to six phone calls a day of new farmers, individuals. We average around 15 to 16 phone calls a day talking to farmers. Some of them are repeats and some of them are our new callers.
From last July through the end of February, the hotline received close to 2,300 calls. More than 500 were from farmers calling for the first time. In nearly every case, the voice on the other end of the line asked for financial and legal help.
[Soll] This Spring they're calling and saying, it happened, the bank gave us our liquidation notice or told us we had to sell out, now what do we need to do legally and what can they do legally? Nebraska Farm Hotline, this is Michelle.
Those calls can be tough to take.
[Soll] Especially when some of the callers aren't ready for it to happen. There are some that just want to get done with it. They're tired of it. They don't sleep at night and they want to just get done with it. And then there are other callers who don't-- they can't lose it. They're just going to thrive and they're trying to still find that avenue of how to survive.
One avenue may through confidential financial and legal clinics sponsored by the State Ag Department. The clinics are held at least once a month in seven towns across the state.
[Marian Beethe, Mediation Program Administrator] We have someone who is a lawyer and so they can help them through the legal aspects of their problems of taking a look at what legally can they or can they not do and also a financial planner, someone who is able to help them through the various ppers of their farm records, see where they stand, give them their various options so that they know what types of things they can do, where they want to head.
One option is the farm mediation program. A neutral mediator works with the farmer and lender to come up with a solution.
[Beethe] We're not looking at something for someone to win and someone else to lose. We want it to work for both of them and be the best for both of them.
[Joanne Komenda, Farm Mediation Program] That banker probably has a son on the basketball team along with the farm family having a son on the basketball team, and they're going to have to, you know, be together in that community perhaps for a long time and so we like to be able to work things out in a way that isn't as adversarial as the litigation route.
Joanne Komenda now works in the State's farm mediation program. During the farm crisis of the 1980's, she worked with other groups that helped farmers. She says this crisis is different.
[Komenda] One thing I do see is there are more farmers who are making this decision to get out of farming this time around. That is one difference that I am seeing. It's not easy. It's causing a tremendous amount of stress and distress.
Farm Hotline, this is Michelle. Were they served by a sheriff then? OK. OK. First of all on the court document that you were served papers, what does it say as far as what type of papers?
Michelle can answer some of the questions herself or she might refer the caller directly to a lawyer. Sometimes she tells them to give Arlie Sholes a call.
[Arlie Sholes, Hotline volunteer] If they are just trying to figure out where they're going to go, what's going on, why it's going wrong, where shall I go now, they'll send most of those calls to me.
Arlie lives and works in Omaha, but he is no stranger to the farm crisis. He got out of farming himself in 1980. He started counseling farmers a few years later.
[Sholes] I know what people are going through when they're faced with leaving. I know what people are going through when they're faced with what else am I going to do, and I've got some education, some experience and it's kind of like if someone asks you, what are you going to do say no, I'm not going to tell you what I know, I'm not going to help you. Well, that's not the way we were raised in the rural community. So if they want to know, I'll be here and do what I can for them.
Arlie Sholes here with the Nebraska Farm Hotline. You guys called down there and Michelle asked me to give you a call. The biggest problems are still financial, and most of those people that are-- that have financial problems now are willing to say, this is really stressing me out, and maybe just talking to me for a while kind of relieves some of the burden. What now you've decided you want to sell it or someone else telling you you want to sell it? There are more calls now from people who say I'm going to have to hang it up, I want to hang it up just because I'm so tired of fighting it. A lender may be saying, I think it's time you look to selling out, and the lender may be thinking well, let's just do it. My advice to people a lot of times before you go anywhere, before you do anything, go talk to your tax consultant. When you say you don't think there will be anything left, does that allow for taxes on the sale of assets, too? You ask your tax consultant two questions. Number one, how much will it cost me if I sell out immediately. Number two, how can I sell out to minimize my taxes. If the lenders are saying, I think you ought to liquidate, you go back to them with that information and say, now this is what I need, too, can we work through this to meet my needs and your needs. All righty. You bet, we'll see ya. Bye. That's about average. Thinks maybe he ain't going to have anything left if he sells it but hasn't thought of the taxes yet. And just judging by what he's talking, 40,000 to 60,000 in taxes, so I'm pretty sure he's going to end up that much behind the eightball.
But losing a farm or fighting to save it is about more than money. It's about life and death when a caller threatens suicide.
[Michelle Soll] Probably in the year of 1999, we had probably a handful of those type of calls, of suicidal type calls, which, you know, you talk the situation out and maybe they're not quite as suicidal as they started out. It's just where they initially received notice and they don't know what to do. Depression has been probably a real high factor in some of the calls. Probably the older farmers are pretty depressed about it. They've worked all their lives and they realize that they're not going to have anything to retire on. Are you OK? No? Are you wanting to go to counseling? Are you needing to go to more counseling?
The Hotline now offers vouchers to pay for mental health counseling sessions. Since last July, they've sent out nearly 1,200 vouchers. Problems dealing with changes in daily life and depression are increasing, but family-related problems are still the main reason for counseling.
[Soll] And it's the wives not understanding why the farmer wants to work this hard and have no money for it, and they're just saying, go out and get a job, doesn't that sound much easier. He is saying, I do have a job and I want to be a success in this. I like to talk to the farm wives and try to make them understand a little bit more, you know, what their view is and how they value this farm. Most of them are family farms and they're the ones that don't want to lose the family farm because nobody else did in their family before it got to them.
Michelle knows firsthand what she is talking about. She grew up on a farm and she married a farmer. She says that makes it easier to deal with calls for help. OK? All right. Thank you. Bye. I have to honestly say I like the ones that say they're ready to get out of farming. I mean, I really don't because that means less Nebraska farmers, but they're easier ones to work with, ones that know they want to get out. Farm Hotline, this is Michelle.

Captioning by Nebraska Captioning Center, Lincoln, Nebraska .